Wim Scheers's page

Assassination sounds harsh, especially over a simple item that can, as be said, just be snatched out of a room at night.

But keep in mind, the PC knows, or at least should know, that he this book is VERY valuable to someone; multiple encounters with henchmen? If necessary using force to retake it? How does this guy still sleeps at night?

But an assassination is a harsh and un-enjoyable experience for any player, let alone an overreaction to retrieve an item.

Just have a rogue/assassin follow them around for a few days (Different disguises? Maybe alter self or other forms of magic?) When enough ‘information’ is gathered this way, simply break into his room and snatch the item, maybe some extra bling bling while he’s at it (those henchmen were rather expensive ... )

And as a warning shot, leave a dagger in the headboard just above the sleeping PC’s head.

Atmosphere, it’s all about atmosphere.
You can have self mutilating, child sacrificing, puppy eating demon worshippers running around, but in the end, one Monty Python reference, a slice of pizza or the latest movie can ruin your game. Hell, even tactical banter or dry math calculations kill any possible horror.

Just my two cents on creating atmosphere:

First encounter: low on CR, but ruthless and cruel. A simple 30 Ft spiked pit trap. Put in some undead if you want. And have the party jumped by some food scavenging demihumans mid rescue. But hurt them.

Secrecy: Just tell a random player to roll his Will Safe and nod at the result. Nothing more, nothing less.

No way back: To be blunt, just collapse the cave in their faces. Let’s say under folk harass the good people of a small town. They hire their favorite heroes. But they don’t like their pace. Se when your party returns for a good night’s rest in a warm bed, they see their tunnel of light collapsed by concerned townsfolk.

You could have a Homebrew Rage Power apply?

If dropped 'unconscious' while raging, a barbarian can take negative hit points as far as twice his CON before dyeing?
Possible with a 3 round limit to invoke the lingering adrenaline effects?

I once ran a campaign downgrading almost all dark vision to 'extreme Low-Light vision'.

Then again, I’m not really fond of the whole dungeon aspect of D&D, so most of my adventures take place in forest, cities, marshes, abandoned castles and not some 1000 Ft underground.

You’re average baddie still has a major night advantage in the perception area.
And the times you really have to go underground, your light source is a situational hazard instead of a constant bore.

I see darkvision like a constant climbing campaign. You have those who move freely, those who have talent for it, and those who are screwed the second something goes wrong. I hate it.

But that’s just me, I see no reason why a mine can’t be replaced by a maze of canyons. Or why a ‘sunken fortress’ can’t just be a abandoned fortress.

I do see the occasional problem with PC’s flying in from the top, but then again, predicting PC’s behavior hasn’t gotten any DM anywhere.

Then again, just make Darkvision a 1st LvL Spell with 2hr/LvL. Let them ‘find a 12th LvL wand and ignore it for the rest of your game.

Could make a nice, be is situational feat;

Duck & Run,
Gain +4 on Tumble checks for every Size Category your opponent exceeds you.

Your Medium Rogue would get +8 on its check. Although I like the flavor, it's probably way to situational. I'd love to see a bunch of Tiny critters run amok with this amongst a party though.

My request;

Does someone, somewhere, have a list of all the changes pathfinder made in the massive spell-lists that enhance our favorite RPG?

My suggestion;

Does it sound like a worthwhile community project to compile said list?

So if we divide them up in sets according to LvL & Class we get;

10 Wizard Sorcerer
10 Druid
10 Cleric
7 Bard
4 Ranger
4 Paladin

With some cooperation it really doesn’t seem to overambitious. Any takers? Or am I the only one tired of looking up every spell over and over just to see if they might have changed it?

1) Get that wall of force up. A choice must be made here, but for giggles, I'd put it up roughly between the melee & casters.

2) DD to aforementioned casters.

3) Take a grab, you should at least get two. Maybe pull an Acidic Pool of first for some spell disruption while unleashing frightfull presence.

4) Fly away with your two caster/low CMD types.

Now here the fun begins.

The players will KNOW that dragon is trouble. It’s big, it’s strong and it just took out two of their friends. Preparations are in order. Looking for revenge or just licking their wounds, who do they meet roaming the swamps/walking into the inn? Their two little buddies.

And options are plenty here;

One is replaced by a doppelganger to find out ‘why the party attacked and what’s their secret weapon’. (Hell, if you chose the right player, just hand him this as a new character sheet)

One has been made ‘an offer he couldn’t refuse’. His story; He was used for his arcane prowess, could barely escape while snatching a ‘secret map’. Just ad a mind link and the party might go and get this unattainable item for their scaly black friend.

One has just been released. (paranoia much?)
They’re both hugely scarred with acid as a warning.
They don’t remember anything.
…

It shows of the dragons STR.
It keeps ‘most’ of your players alive (never hesitate to pull a killing blow)
It adds a certain tension to the group.

Just a note off advice;

it sound like you're willing to put a, let's say 'decent', amount of time in this project.

And as a player mostly unfamiliar with NWN, I'd like to make a suggestion.

1- Get you're campaign clearly divided in big 'LvL X-Y sessions.
2- Make those sessions playable on their own.
3- Share.

Ok, maybe you're not into it, but If I would put that much effort in a project, I'd wouldn't want to see it wasted on 4 pretzel munching Beer goggling players.

And this should not impose limits, not to much anyway, on the project.
Just ad a 'Red Line' section in each of them.

Got that BBeG, place clues to a certain cult, needing an artifact to destroy a demon, ...

All in a box mate. With a little extra work, that cult can be a beautiful LvL 11-15 campaign or that artifact can suit any purpose.

On the other hand, you could work the other way around. Write to please yourself, to please your players, and when it’s done, put a hatchet in it and divide it up in perfect (and hopefully loved) online adventures.

Anyway, good luck.

If combat is ridiculously slow, go for it.

But there's nothing like the grin on a rogues face when his TWF-Sneak combo kicks in and he can load op on d6 and spread them out over the table.

Hell, even the 2d6 greatsword gets thrown like a '2' would be the end of the world.

Or you can allow a Knowledge Check to enable a +1 Favored Enemy bonus against any Foe for every 5 of the roll. It's balanced, scales, and doesn't stack with the existing class feature, but invokes it's wording.

Then again, we'd make our hardcore, outdoor ranger into a Loremaster. Planes, Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, Religion, ... Hell, even local goes for humanoids.

Not to mention, he'd get a decent bonus at every encounter. Especially in the early LvL's. Lucky 20? + 4 know? +1 Int? +5 at LvL 1. A +3 on average. Even if you make it a Full Round Action, this would be worth it.

Question regarding the subject;

You can attack a square you think the invisible guy is standing in with a 50 % miss chance right?

Shouldn't arrows grant some sort of line attack with this? Especially at close range?

*standing in A1*

Player: I shoot an arrow straight at square D1
DM : You miss, he becomes visible again, standing in C1.
Player: Didn't my arrow just pass through that square?

I get this doesn’t work in the least for curved shots, but shooting down a 5 by 30 ft alley?

Alternatives

I don't seem to be able to edit the first post, thus a recap is placed here;
I’ve divided them in three major lines of thinking.

1 Avoiding the problem

-Ask Your DM.
-Reduced Fav Enemy List (optional; also reducing the bonus)

2 Flexibility

-Refocusing (http://www.dorkistan.com/PFRPG/classes/ranger.htm)
-Rearanging at LvL-up, day training/bonus, …

3 Alternative Ability

-Sneak Attack (Replace Fav enemy with +1d6/ optional changing Fav -Terrain in range increments)
-Hunters Mark (Gain bonus after #rounds study/Skill triggered)

Personal Choice

Further a first attempt at a combination of my preferred line of thinking

Hunter’s Mark; (This ability replaces the Favorite Enemy Ability)

‘Hunter’s mark +2’ replaces the current favorite enemy ability.
Gain this cumulative bonus after a study of the mark for 5 rounds out or 3 round in combat (as a move action).

Hunter’s Secret; (This ability replaces the Favorite Terrain Ability)

Gain one of the next secrets.
-Fast Mark (Study becomes a Swift action)
-Critical Strike (Auto confirm Crits on Mark)
-Saves (Gain bonus on Saves Vs Mark)
-AC (Gain Dodge bonus on AC Vs Mark)
-Tactical (Gain bonus on CMB & D Vs Mark)
-Cripling (Halve movement of Mark with successful Attack)
-Bleeding (Bestow Bonus as Bleeding damage on successful strike)
-Keen (Increase Crit range Vs Mark)
…

More original ideas or balance issues appreciated.

A secret.

Big guy (say Paladin) dies from nasty poison/cursy/special demon ability.

You have to bring this information (wizard will open gate X/Demons want relic Y/ ...) to his trusted Paladin order.

He also suspects some of the cities leaders are in league with the Demons, hence they cannot tell anyone.

Advancement;

Reach Monastery/Castle
'Traitor' finds out they spoke with him just before he died, sends some baddies after them.
Demon ridden lands give some extra encounters.
Passageway is blocked, need to go through ‘Mountains/Caves’ (maybe to Moria)
Add in a few families who need protection for some fun.

So the basic adjustment they need is more flexibility.

- Either on long term training to switch some bonuses around or when they LvL up.

OR

- As a studies skill check; taking a 1-3 rounds & a possible knowledge/survival/CMB check to gain the bonus against a specific target/ group.

As a matter of fact, I like the second option best. It gives them the whole 'Stalking Hunter' feel when studying someone/thing from hiding, before firing their bow. I spot some similarities with the paladins‘Smite Evil’ or the assasins 'Death Attack' ability here.

On a side note; if the subgroups are drastically broadened, should the bonus stay the same or drop to +1?

You spend five hours building a kickass rogue, only to find yourself in an undead doomsday capmaign.
And Pathfinder Fixed it.

But then we get to the ranger, who faces the similar problem of enemy specification instead. Especially if you wnat to grab some juicy 'favored enemy' -feats that may never see the light of day.

So let's list some of the basix fixes;

1- Ask your DM.

Playing City of the Spider Queen? Pile up the Drow/Undead bonuses. I actually dislike this option. Yes, a small heads up might be OK, but turning not only does the Ranger get remarkably better in this type of monogamous campaigns, it also negates some of the games tension. Further it doesn’t address the real issue, rock in encounter A, backseat in B.

2- Reduce the Favored Enemy List.(*Credits to Greg Trombley)

Aberation (This would include some Monstrous Humanoids)
Beasts (This includes Animals, Dragons, Magical Beasts, and Vermin)
Celestial (This basicly makes up all good Outsiders)
Construct (This would include Oozes and some Plants)
Elemental (This makes up all Outsiders with an Elemental type)
Fey (This would include Giants and some Plants)
Fiend (This would include all Evil Outsiders)
Savages (Giant, Goblinoid, Gnoll, Orc, …)
Humanoid (Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Human, …)
Outsider (This would include all Outsiders that are not in the Celestial, Elemental, or Fiend categories)
Undead (Remains Unchanged)

Bumps the whole feature up a notch, with an easy branching out to cover a lot of enemies.
Good option for those who like the ability, but then again, we can go a bit further.

3- Sneak Attack

Personal favorite of mine;
Every Favorite Enemy is replaced with +1d6 Sneak Attack.
Every Favorite Terrain is replaced with ‘Hunters Eye’ (+30 Ft Sneak Range)

Comment, suggestions or other alternatives for both favored enemy and Terrain are more then welcome.

W

You do provoke an attack of opportunity if a threatening enemy took the 'Mother' feat. High concentration only makes it worse.